The Sun. — London, England, 1838-02-17 00:00:00

LITERATURE. QUARTERLY REVIEW, No. CXXI. Murray, London, 1838. There is an able Review in the Number before us, of " Moorcroft's Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hin dustan," in;which a fine poetic delusion is dispelled respect ing the picturesque beauties of the far-famed Vale of Cashmire, allusions to which, it may be remembered, figure in almost every page of " Lalla Rookh," and are of con stant occurrence in the tales and romances of the East. I scheme which Frederick Giambelli has projected, for blow ing up the enemy's positions on the Scheldt by means of fire-ships. Unfortunately this scheme comes to the ears of Cassilda, who, shocked at the idea of her father becoming its victim, sends him secretly a note of warning, wherein she exhorts him to absent himself from the Spanish forts for a brief season. This note is of course shown to the Prince of Parma, who redoubles his vigilance, and the plan in consequence but partially succeeds. Driven to despair by his ill-luck, and maddened with his wife for having, as he thinks, betrayed him, Giambelli allows the law to take its course ; sees her consigned to a prison, from which, however, she soon contrives to escape, and is ulti mately reconciled to her husband ; and then sallies out on the Spaniards, at the head of a chosen body of troops ; is defeated ; carried back into Antwerp, and there dies of his wounds, just as the victorious troops of Parma are en tering the city gates. His wife, meantime, hearing the roll of the Spanish drum, and apprehending the worst, flies to take her post by her husband's side, but, finding him a bleeding corse, she drops down heart-broken, and breathes her last sigh on his bosom. On these slender materials Mr. Kennedy has constructed a play of very considerable interest, at least as regards the management of the inci dents, and the skill and poetical beauty of the dialogue. We cannot, however, congratulate him on the suceess of his more impassioned scenes. He is not at home in depict ing the sterner and profounder emotions of the soul ; but dallies and trifles with a passion, rather than developes it. He shrinks from the task as if he were afraid of it—as if, i❑ fact, he had a sort of latent consciousness of his inability to grapple with a strong feeling. We will give an instance of what we mean. When Giambelli has discovered that his wife has been the instrument of defeating his scheme for destroying the enemy's forts, and has been led also to be lieve that she purposely thwarted it by her father's advice— that father, who has been his basest and most malignant enemy through life—this is the language in which his as tonishment, indignation, and maddening disappointment find vent This celebrated valley, which the poets—and indeed many travellers too, more imaginative than the poets themselves —always led us to believe was a perfect Paradise ; where the air was perfumed with the breath of a thousand aro matic shrubs and flowers ; where the rivers and lakes and streamlets were overshadowed by the most 'prolific fruit trees ; where the " bulbul" sang her " amorous descant" the live-long night ; and where the women were all as lovely as Houris—this valley, thus embellished from time immemorial with the most glowing tints of fancy, and asso ciated in European minds with ideas of perfect scenic grace and beauty, is, it seems, a very pig-stye of a place, " a land of beggars, scoundrels, and bandits, and in its present state surpassing all imaginable poverty !" To make matters worse, Mr. Moorcroft represents the fair natives of Cash mire as having as much brass in their faces as would make a tea-kettle ; while, as regards the males, so far from their bearing any resemblance to Mr. Moore's romantic and susceptible heroes, they are remarkable only for their matter-of-fact turn of mind. " If they have any de cided genius," says our traveller, " it is for manufactures and commerce, but their transactions are always conducted in a fraudulent spirit, equalled only by the effrontery with which they face detection." Here is a stunning shock to the imagination I Think of the lover of the " fair Nour mahal" being nothing better than a " scoundrel operative," and swearing, not by his mistress's bright eyes, but like a Cheapside tailor, by his ledger! With regard to the city of Cashmire, which the Oriental writers have described as abounding in fine palaces, where Princes and Nobles vied with each other, like " Egypt with Assyria," in splendour and luxury, " it is a complicated labyrinth of narrow, dirty lanes, scarcely broad enough for a single cart to pass, badly paved, and having a small gutter in the centre, full of filth. The houses are mostly in a neglected and ruinous condi tion, with broken doors, or no doors at ail ; with windows stopped up with boards, paper, or rags ; walls out of the perpendicular, and pitched roofs threatening to fall." We would advise all those young readers whose imaginations may be full of Moore's gorgeous and elaborate descriptions of the vale of Cashmire and its city, to read this review of Mr. Moorcroft's travels, which will act on them as a whole some sedative. " Memorials of Oxford" is a lengthy no tice—far too much so—of Dr. Ingram's illustrated work on this subject, in the course of which the Reviewer makes, what he calls, a reply to the charges so often urged against the University of bigotry and intolerance. " The first charge," he observes, " which is made against the Uni versity of Oxford, and from which Cambridge is very often exempted, is that of a blind, bigoted adherence to old institutions. Bigotry is a hard word, and in the present day a very common word ; but the answer to such an accusation is, not to deny a reverence for antiquity, or a firm un shaken confidence in fundamental truths, but to distinguish between a blind, thoughtless, violent maintenance of doctrines and practices, and an attachment to them equally firm, but sanctioned by reason. All be lief in truth is, at the present day, stamped as bigotry, and under such a maxim the University of Oxford must be bigoted. She maintains, and has maintained for centuries, the great truths of Christianity as the tbundation of all her system. She has adhered unshakingly to the Ca• tholic Church in her worst perils : she has not departed from old ways and hereditary principles, as if every thing true was new, and every thing new was true she has supported old forms of government as sanc tioned by God, while others are the creation of men, and not of the best of men • she restricts and regulates her teaching by old maxims of cdu• cation, as supported by the authority of experience : she employs old writers to discipline the minds of the young, and old institutions to over rule their natural petulance and conceit. And all this has been done firmly and unhesitatingly, without any profession of distrust in the wis dom of the course, or any avowal of a wish to change for the sake of t 1 ). ange. In this sense of the word bigotry, the University of Oxford is bigoted; and it will indeed be an evil day to the country and to the Church when she ceases to be so." This is not an answer to, but an ingenious, sophistical evasion of, the charge that Oxford is characterised by a bli n d, bigoted adherenCe to old institutions. It does not disprove the notorious facts that she is an enemy to all im provement ; that her politics are those of a century past ; and that, in her Protestantism, she is intolerant and un charitable, as the recent case of Dr. Hampden has fully established. The Reviewer makes no direct reply to these 'Pfeifle charges, which have been brought forward a hun dred times against the University, but contents himself W ith putting the best face upon them, as one who is well aware that he has but a rotten cause to maintain. The articl e is cleverly written in point of style, with much as sumption of manner, and with a determination to look only tootle side of the question. In the article entitled " Ver sailles," which ridicules and condemns, en masse, the nu merous pictorial and architectural alterations that Louis Phillippe has lately made in that splendid building, the Reviewer goes out of his way for the purpose of reviving a 6g -exploded calumny against Lafayette. "On the fatal sx.th of October," says he, " in the year 1789, when Louis the Sixteenth and his family were fcrced to abandon Ver sailles, Lafayette and his Parisian army—who had followed t he mob, under pretence of restraining, but really to en courage and protect them—though they were too good citizens to attempt to save the King and Queen from vio lence and captivity, or their faithful servants from massacre, wereyet strong enough to preserve the Palace, and even the furniture, from injury." This sentence, brief as it is, con tains two most flagrant mis-statements. In the first place, Lafayette had not the slightest share in encouraging and protecting the mob ; but, on the contrary, left Paris for the express purpose of keeping them in check, which he °fleeted, till late at night, when a sudden outbreak having t aken place, while he was snatching an hour or so's repose, after having been wholly exhausted by three or four nights, Incessant application to business, he hastened to the Palace where th e mo b were r i ot i ng, an d b y hi s own persona l exer tions, and at the risk of his life—and what lie loved quite as well, his popularity—succeeded in saving the Royal family, as they themselves were the first publicly to ac knowledge 1 Secondly, the " King and Queen" were not Placed in a state of captivity—not till long afterwards, when the vacillating conduct of Louis induced all parties equally to distrust him. Lafayette was incapable of Playing a double game in politics. He was the very antipodes of cunning or treachery. The very defects (Ibis nature prevented him from being an intriguer ; and for his high and chivalrous sense of honour, his long impri enment in the Austrian dungeon is a voucher that there is tle gainsaying. " Welcome and Farewell" is a terse and flatterin g notice of a tragedy, " printed only for private circulation," by the Rev. Mr. Harness. As it is now-a days becoming the fashion to print in this shy and modest Manner, we suppose we shall soon have all our dramatists printing only for private circulation," and at the " request of friends." The idea is an ingenious one—but not novel ; for Sheridan, in the Critic, has already recommended it, and a ppropriately called it " the Puff Preliminary." Mr. H arness's tragedy is a very amiable and inoffensive P r oduction, and may be read without any fear 15 . ! .. deluging on e ' s p oc k e t-h an dk erc hief. " Campaign Talavera." points out—or professes to point out — d ivers erro rs i n C o l one l N ap i er ' s a d m i ra bl e history of th e Pen insular c am p a i gn . Th e ar ti c l e a pp ear s to us to be vuaned i n a sp i r i t o f strong pre j u di ce. 'Th e l ong diatribe cu Canada" sets out in a very promising vein of face i'l°l-13ness, but th e R ev i ewer ' s h umour i s soon ex hausted ; it t 8 "all, shallow rivulet, that has scarcely strength enough ; trickle th roug h a paragrap h . Thi s art i c l e, as a ma tt er ri t d Course, a b uses t h e Whi gs an d a ll t hi ngs Whi gg i s h , an d te ules the id ea o f di spa t c hi ng L or d D ur h am as a paci ficator to C ana d a . Th e Number, on the whole, is a good i n e • but we h ave seen m any that possess more genera l ilterest. S HE SIEGE OF ANTWERP. A TRAGEDY. Moxon, London, 1838. b The plot of thi s d rama i s as s i mp l e an d na t ura l as nee d s a e ' "d may b e t o ld i n a f ew li nes . F re d er i c k Gi am b e lli, yo ung Florentine of an ardent and elevated character, qof endowed w ith rare m ilit ary t a l en t s , i s engage d i n t h e El lee of Antwerp, at the period when it is besieged by 7 Prince of Parma, Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish e l.°° P B in the Netherlands. Previous to this, Giambelli el married Cassilda Nunez, daug•nter of an officer in the rn i ian Y of the besiegers —a beautiful and lofty-minded Casti 4,,'_.who has sacrificed friends, country, relatives, and all v;gthultii?us hopes for her husband, and shares ungrudgingly g , 'um the worst fatigues and horrors of war. The play sivith a brief dialogue between two soldiers, descripti ve ,!" state' ate of Antwerp. It is reduced to the last extre . f7 r t j ; t he Spaniards are in possession of all the adjacent 8 ; and th e c i t i zens ' only chance o f deliverance lies in a " GIAMBELLI.—You mean well, St. Aldegonde, And giving you full credit for kind wishes, I would with the like temper intimate That there are wounds so exquisite of sense— So intersected with fine filaments, Trembling with life from feeling's inmost core, That even from friendship's most assuasive touch— Yea, from its lightest, balmiest breath—they shrink As from a burning brand I For the lady, It lately was my pride to call my wife, I should belie conviction, if I yoked The name she bears to any gross suspicion! I thought I had the perfect sovereignty— The free, unpurchased homage of her mind— 'Tis gone ST. ALDEGONDL—Might not mutual explanation— GlAmninta.—What is there to explain ? Cassilda Nunea Hath passedfroin out the portal of my heart, And the door's shut for ever." This is beautifully and gracefully expressed, especially the lines marked in italics, but it is not in character. An ardent and ambitious nature thirsting. for renown in the world's eye, living but in the hope of obtaining it, and stak ing its all on the success or otherwise of one grand, ori ginal, and long-cherished project, would not, when its last fond hopes were crushed for ever—and this by the secret agency of one whom it thought was a kindred spirit—ex press its sense of anguish in such quiet, polished language as Mr. Kennedy has here employed. Deep feeling has no taste for tropes or metaphors. It is concise, simple—we might almost add—matter-of-fact, in style ; and turns away with indifference from the pretty flowers that spring up on the lower slopes of Parnassus. It never expatiates, or de claims, or consults niceties of phrase, as Lear and Timcn have long since proved. This is the sole objection we make to the " Siege of Antwerp"—an objection, by the bye, which only applies to it as a tragedy. If we call it instead a dra matic poem, we have no fault to find with it ; for it is uni formly animated, graceful, and elegant in expression, and full of that tender, chastened sensibility which the majority are quite ready to accept as a substitute for deeper passion. The following passage, in which Cassilda describes her husband, is as beautiful as anything that the modern drama can show : " The world to me is changed; I have a dream of days in Old Castile— Light, fleeting girlish days—with lute and sung Made musical! Their spring tide sun has set— Now lightning burns above me—yet I breathe No sigh for pleasures past ! Men speak of stars Which influence their being—Frederick Is the whole host of ruling orbs to me! Time may obscure his lustre—angry gusts Shake his domestic sphere—nights of eclipse May come—the harbingers of total gloom— But nought in life's distempered calendar Can ever dim the beauty of his presence In my affection's temple— Where'cr his shadow falls, there lies my country !" The " Siege of Antwerp" is dedicated to the Earl of Durham in a manly, dignified, and unaffected spirit. It is its author's best production ; is superior in simplicity of design and vigour of execution to the " Duchess de la Vallicre," and quite on a par with " Ion." Mr. Kennedy must try his hand again at the drama, and not fear to give full play to his feelings. Let him place faith in them, and they will not lead him astray. But to take fright at one's own strong impulses, and hesitate to speak out from an apprehension of overdoing passion, and running into exaggeration, is not the way to succeed either in love or in literature. NARRATIVE OF THE RESIDENCE OF THE PERSIAN PRINCES IN L ONDON. 2 Mors. London, Bentley, 1838. We commenced this work iu the confident expectation of being much amused with it ; and our expectations have not been disappointed. It abounds in every page in the raciest touches of character ; and affords another striking proof of the truth of Byron's well-known adage, that " truth is strange, stranger than fiction." The author is Mr. Fraser—whose impressive oriental tale of the " Kuz zilbash," we remember reading some years since with great interest, and he here records the proceedings, from day to day, of the three Persian Princes, during their three months' residence among the fashionable circles of London. These scions of royalty are, it seems, cousins to the reigning king of Persia, but having taken an active part in a rebellion against him, they were defeated, and compelled to fly their country. After enduring a world of privations, and en countering many romantic adventures in the course of their flight over the Arabian deserts, they contrived to reach Damascus, where, after taking counsel of each other, they resolved to cross the seas, and throw themselves on the pro tection of the British Government. They did so, and were received with a hearty welcome, all classes in London vie ing with each other in their attention to the royal exiles. Mr. Fraser, who was appointed to act as their cicerone, and give them au insight into the nature of our Western cus toms, seems. to have played his part—which he tells us occasioned him frequent annoyance and uneasiness—with great judgment ; and has furnished us with many vivid, characteristic details of the impressions made on the Princes by the sight of the thronged streets—the glittering shops— the fashionable parties—and public exhibitions of the Metro polis. They were not, it appears, much struck with the splendour of the numerous gay entertainments to which they were invited ; but the beauty of our young Englishwomen called forth (and no wonder !) their warmest admiration. They were never weary of paying compliments to those ladies who struck their fancy ; and, in return, they seem to have been very generally admired by the fair sex. The youngest, in particular, Timour Meerza, wanted nothing but a little more English, to make him a thorough lady killer. Ile was lively, handsome, frank, and fearless in his manners ; and had he remained much longer at the West end, who knows, with his fine expressive eyes, and graceful bearing, but he might have brought himself under the par ticular notice of Doctors' Commons ? Among the public ex hibitions which most struck the Persian Princes, was Madame Tussaud's wax-work ; and, next to this, the painted Pano rama of London in the Colosseum, which they thought in finitely more natural and beautiful than the real panorama from the summit of the building! They were also delighted with a review in Hyde Park ; but fell asleep over the music at the Opera ; and pronounced the military combats at Astley's a perfect failure. It is gratifyin g to record that, like all men of sense, they were fond of good eating and drinking ; quaffed -their Champagne with a good will and energy anything but Mahometan ; and had a most royal aversion to putting themselves out of the way for the sake of etiquette. At the expiration 'of three months, they quitted London, and set out for Constantinople, whither Mr. Frazer accompanied them, and where ho takes leave of them. Unfortunately,' eve have no space for extracts, or we should make several, for the book eboends in quotable materials. One amusing incident however, we must not omit. Having bee❑ told that it the custom in England for gentlemen to rise from their seats when visitors enter their rooms, the Persian. Princes, anxious " On all things created remaineth the half-effaced image of God, Somewhat of fair and good, though blotted by the finger of Corruption. There is truth in the wildest scheme that imaginative heat hath en- gendered ; And a man may gather pomewhat from the crudest theories of fancy. The Alchymist laboureth in fully, but catcheth chance gleams of Wisdom, And fir:cloth out many inventions, though his crucible breed not gold. Verily, there is nothing so true, that the damps of error hare not - - ----- —• warped it. - Verily, there is nothing so false, that a sparkle of truth is not in it." Among the many theories advanced by divines to prove how much it is the interest of mankind to love and deal charitdbly with one another, we never met with any which we would rather persuade ourselves was true than the fol- lowing : " Moreover, a moral compensation reacheth to the secrecy of thought r : For if thou wilt think evil of thy neighbour, soon shalt thou have him for thy fue ; And yet he may know nothing of the cause that maketh thee distasteful to his soul— The cause of unkind suspicion, for which thou bast thy punishment: And if thou think of him in charity, wishing or praying for his weal, He shall not guess the secret charm that lureth his soul to love thee." The extract with which we are about to conclude our notice of this singular volume is common-place, with the ex ception of the ideas embodied in the first -and fourth lines. These ideas are equally striking and just : " Blunted unto goodness is the heart, which anger never stirreth, But that which hatreil swelleth is keen to carve out evil. Anger is a noble infirmity, the generous failing of the just, The one degree that riseth above zeal, asserting the prerogatives of virtue ; But hatred is a slow continuing crime, a fire'in the bad man's breast; A dull and hungry flame, for ever craving, insatiate. Hatred would harm another : Anger would indulge itself. Hatred is a simmering poison : Anger the opening of a valve. Hatred is the atmosphere of Hell ; but Anger is known in Heaven. Beware of the Angry in his passion ; but fear not to approach hint afterward: For if thou acknowledp thine error, he himself will be tarry for his wrath. Beware of the hater in his coolness; for he meditateth evil against thee: Commending the resources of his mind calmly to work thy ruin. RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF MAN. Morison, London, 1833. The author of this work is Mr. Morison, who tells us, in his dedication to the Queen, that the inquiries contained in it, " though now condensed, have furnished delightful relaxation through the vicissitudes of a busy life, and during a long series of years." Now we cannot agree with Mr. Morison that his work is " condensed ;" on the contrary, it is in many places singularly diffuse, and full of repetitions of the same thought only differently expressed. As, Low ever, it is written with the best intentions, and displays throughout a spirit of unaffected piety, we will not bear tr 0 hardly upon it, but content ourselves with the expression of a hope that its success may be such as to answer it, author's expectations. OBSERVATIOINS ON THE IRISHPOOR LAW BILL. Ridgway and Sons. This pamphlet, which is, we understand, from the p en of Sir William Brabazon, M.P. for Mayo, contains some sound and judicious remarks upon the Poor Law Bill n ow before Parliament, and forcibly points out its inadequacy as a remedy for the pauperism with which Ireland is unhappily overspread. While we admit the difficulty which Minis_ ters hare had to contend with, in framing a measure of this nature for a country so peculiarly circumstanced, we mus t regret that they have not availed themsels es more largely of the opinions of those, whose constant residence and inti mate practical acquaintance with the condition and feelings of the Irish peasantry would have enhanced the value of their suggestions. We recommend the perusal of Sir William's pamphlet to all who are interested in thi s important question. On the subject of Irish pauperism, the Hon. Baronet observes : " There is an erroneous opinion gone abroad as to the distinct nature of pauperism in Ireland, assimilating it in character to that which prevails in this country ; whereas it is as dissimilar as any two things in the world can be. Speaking from a knowledge of my own imme diate part of the country, the chief feature of pauperism is that which takes place in scarce seasons anal high markets, when the humble cotter or tmaut, from impoverished means, or incapacity to meet the pressure of the times, shuts up his dwelling, and goes to England or elsewhere to gain a temporary maintenance. His wife and family are thus compelled to traverse the country in search of alms for their sus tenance, As a necessary consequence, during this period, (of from six weeks or two months) misery and wretchedness is extensively dif fused over the country; but upon the return of the harvest, they again betake themselves to their homes, and then. generally speaking, povert• disappears, until a recurrence of similar circumstances. There are few of those termed paupers who have not some hut or dwelling, and corn acres or potatoe grounds ; so that, with the exception of local persons, labouring under infirmity, age, or incapacity to work, poverty is scarcely visible during the dreary season of winter—a season which, in England, is most pregnant with pauperism and crime. Are Poor Laws and the Workhouse System calculated to meet such a case as this ?—Certainly not. Is not voluntary charity, and that to a wide extent, afforded in Ireland ?—lt is; and I hare seldom heard it complained of by those who give it. It is usually administered rather with cheerfulness and good will, than otherwise ; yet, upon the pressure of this mode of relief on the community at large is mainly founded the strongest grgurnents of the advocates of the Bilk'. Again, with rospect to emigration :—. " One measure suggested for relieving the distresses of Ireland has been emigration ; but surely nothing more impolitic, or that would carry with it more mischief, could be recommended. There are three millions of Irish acres, equal to flee millions English, In an uncultivated state. Gifted by nature with extraordinary resources and a most fertile soil, what could be more injurious than to withdraw the means with which nature has blessed her, namely, a hardy and laborious population, which is generally termed the wealth of a country, whilst there is such an extensive field for improvement on which their energies could be employed." FINE ARTS. NAVY ISLAND. THE DESTRUCTION OF THE STEAM-BOAT " CAROLINE." Acherniann, London, 1838. These plates give us a very distinct and vivid idea of the situation of the steam-boat Caroline, when she was set on fire by the English, and sent down the Falls of Niagara in a state of conflagration. The sketch of Navy Island is also very interesting, and is a good specimen of lithographic engraving. Wo have just seen a lithographic engraving of Miss Emma Romer, in the character of Amina, in the opera of La Sonnambula. The likeness is tolerably correct, but it is by no means a flattering one. It is published by Gwynne of St. James's-street. Last week, at the Assizes at Rennes, an old of fender, named Frique, while on his trial, attempted to strangle himself by turning his own tongue clown his throat, as some times practised by the North American Indians. He had very nearly succeeded, but a medical man was called in in time to save his life. An able analysis of the division on Mr. Grote's motion in another column is well deserving of the attention of Ministers. With what justice, with what consistency, can any set of men throw themselves on their political opponents for support in a case where five-sixths of their own supporters are against them I What is the meaning , of representative Government, if the hcadstrongness of one-sixth of a party shall pertina ciously insist in forcing their opinions on the rest, and, to baulk their friends, throw themselves on their opponents I On what other principle than the sic cob, sic jubeo, can this perti nacity, at variance with all our constitutional notions, be justi fied ? We blame not Sir Robert Peel. It was a triumph to him to obtain the support of one-fifth or one-sixth of the Mi nisterial party to his own principles. It was for his interest that the Ministry should desert the great body of their support ers. An opponent of the Reform Bill is consistently an oppo nent of whatever makes the franchise conferred by the Reform Bill a reality and not a name. But we regret that the authors of that Bill should have so little confidence in their own han diwork as to deem intimidation and corruption indispensible to the safe exercise of the franchise. The regret expressed by the opponents of the Ballot that intimidation and corrup tion should be resorted to is pure affectation. He that wishes the end must wish the means. Intimidation and corruption are the inevitable results of inequalities of property and the unprotected state of the voters. In the House of Lords last night, Lord Brougham, on presenting several petitions in favour of the Ballot, observed, with respect to the di vision of Thursday night in the Commons, that " Though, knowing their Lordships as he did, he might be disposed to congratulate them on the division, which carried, no doubt, what appeared to them to be a proper vote, by a majority of 117, yet he was afraid, and he felt bound to say it, that another such victory would be their Lord ships' ruin. The motion for the Ballot had been supported by 198, exclusive of the two tellers, which was an addi tion of about one-fifth to the whole number of those who had supported the motion on the last occasion ; and he must say, that unless their Lordships made up their minds either to this measure or some measure of the sort for the protection of electors, the time appeared to him to be come that at all events their was as large a proportion, even with the interest of Government against it, of the constituency in favour of some more effect ua l p ro t ect i on to b e g i ven to the voter in the exercise of his Elective Franchise ; and he knew it was equally so in Scotland. If, therefore, some effective protection was not given, it would be a solitary case within his experience of a great measure, in which the public interest was excited to a great degree, going on from year to year increasing, until at last it reached the climax of a large number of the constituents and their representatives mar shalling themselves in combination in favour of the measure—. it would, he repeated, be the solitary instance, either in his ex perience or, as far as he knew, in history, if such a measure, so increasing in favour with the people and their representatives, did not sooner or later become law. The sooner, therefore, their Lordships made up their minds to some such measure as this the better it would be for them." Every reflecting person must agree with the Noble and Learned Lord—that the question of the Ballot is in reality carried. The sooner, therefore, that public men make up their minds to the measure the better. This is not an abstract question, but one which comes home to men's business and bosoms. Every time that a man sitting by his own fire-side casts his eyes on his wife and children, he finds cogent arguments, in his anxiety for them, for this poli tical safeguard. Sir Robert Peel is, as we have said, con sistent. His speech is a commentary on the observation of the author of the Conservative pamphlet to which eve alluded on Thursday, that voting by Ballot being the only way of securing independent suffrages "is in the abstract the best mode of voting ;" and that " the real objection to the Ballot is that the present constituency are not fit to be trusted wiih the inde pendent exercise of the elective franchise." Indeed Sir Robert Peel goes so far as to denounce any tenant who does not happen to adopt the opinion of his landlord, as " an ill-conditioned fellow." " There may be some person here or there," he observes with much naivete, " who has a grudge against his landlord, who is an ill tempered, bad -conditioned fellow, who has read, per haps, the last tirade in a Radical newspaper, who will take a pleasure in voting against his landlord." The tenant insist have no opinion of his own, but veer round with his landlord. The liberty allowed to the voter is to be a make-believe liberty. You may allow the reins to fall loose on the voter's neck, Lit you must never loose hold of them, so that you may pull him up when you wish. Sir Robert does not mince the matter. The constituencies, he says, are Lot to be trusted with inde pendence. " I believe that in times of great public excite ment and disaster, we could not with safety trust to the principle that every man—whatever his degree of intelli gence—whatever knowledge he may have in public af fairs—is equally fit for the exercise of a secret vote in the State. Your theory is, that any one man is as well cal culated to give an opinion, or exercise an authority in public affairs, as another. But if they give their rotes publicly you know who are the persons who exercise this au therity, whereas in cases of public calamity and excitement, whenever they may occur, the great mass of the voters, being freed from all considerations or interest in the property of the country—enjoying none of those reciprocal feelings of esteem (I) between landlord and tenant which now exist— might with great ease put the Ballot to a most disastrous and fatal test." [The Right Hon. Baronet had just before said that iu nine cases out of ten'the tenant would be influenced by his landlord after the Ballot as much as before.] " There might arrive a time when great delusion shall exist on the state of public affairs, and a general election take place during all the excitement consequent on such a state of things ; and I say that if the Ballot were in operation under circumstances like these, the institutions of the country would be in great jeo pardy and danger. I think we should always be in disasters of this kind if we were to give the power of secret voting without the pro tection which the influence of property at present naturally exercises." This is all quite natural in the mouth of an op ponent of the Reform Bill. Representation with him is a very good thing ;. but the electors must be bullied or brib e d ; there must be a dependant tenantry-at-will in the counties, and necessitous freemen in the boroughs, to enable the longest We must repeat, th e enem i es o f the purse to carry the day. Ballot are the enemies of the Reform Bill. The question is still between virtual and real Representation. Represein tation under the Reform Bill , without securing the inde pendence of the voter, is merely a mo difi cat i on o f the old virtual representation. We are glad to find that th e old defences of the opponents of the Ballot are brok e n through, that they have at last become ashamed of using deceptions which fail to deceive, and that it has come at last fairly to this --you, the electors, can not be safely left to your independence. When fai r ly d r i ven upinto goingabout the bush—we admit th e B a ll ot would b e effective, and it is because it would be effective that we h ate it ; a bribed and bullied people you are now, and a b r ib e d an d bullied people you sh all remai n. We dare not trust y ou . Th e a Presby teria ns during the Commonwealth we re a ll f or lib erty t i ll coiuer, they exclaim, Well, th ere i s no use i n any o libertyneo longer f tivre ias against them, and then we fi n d Ri c h ard Baxter, ablest and most eloquent of our English writere, in his book on " Self-denial," exclaiming :—" Conceited aboutbyother forms of Go this, as if th e i r Go vernment; people call it their libert y to be governed rather by fou r hun ddthan n t ;by y one, d great e byat stir they popularity m t a h k a e n felicity did consist i n it ; when a s the true liberty of a common wealth consisteth in the fullest conformity of th e i r l aws and the will of God. their execution to • • . But the s p ec i es of Government is none of this lib erty in itself considered. A people may be at much mo re liberty under a pi ous v c r n e e n Monarch than an impious or unskilful Democracy. The free chosen of the most when they are bad (as where is it better ?) may enslave the best; and the awe and inter es t o f t h e r i c h i s com monly such upon the people, that a free chosen is some whata strance. And, therefore, those p ersons are enemies to their country that under that name would advance such kind of popular interest as is plainly against the interest of Christ." This is the language of the opponents of the Ballot :—Our opinions a re the only just opinions, and to a ll ow you to have a liberty to support any other opinions than ours is not to be thought of for a moment. Liberty ie a good or an evil as it is exercised to our mind. They who dread the independence of the people are on a false scen t. If the people are, as they -,say, generally ignorant,. instruct th e n people. It i s d angerous f -to insult them. --Shona g Chronicle. Before one twelvemonth, or perhaps even one Session, shall have elapsed, we strongly suspect that the liberal opponents of the Ballot shall find but little cause of congratulation in the results of the course which they pursued on Thursday night. The exultation of the Tories, manifested by the cheers with which they hailed the traitorous dereliction of principle exhi bited amongst the pretended Reformers, sounded much like the yell of fiendish joy which Beelzebub and his associates may be supposed to have sent forth on beholding the fall of man. Aed oh I what a fall was here. Men who were looked upon as the ♦ery soul of Reform to array them selves against the measure above all others calculated to carry out into perfect operation the intent and pur pose of the Reform Act ! Well might the Tories cheer over the suicidal conduct of their opponents I Well might the genuine friends of Reform grieve over the desertion from their ranks I But the Ballot, though betrayed in the House of Commons, will yet be vindicated by the country. It will not be sufficient at the next election, as at the last, to make a plausible but deceptive profession, that if intimidation or co ercion continue, the Ballot, or some similar protection, must be extended to the electors—nothing will in future satisfy the the country but a distinct declaration of opinion--fictitious promises will no longer impose on tho too credulons confidence of the country_ and when public opinion be appealed to on the manner in w hich the Ballot was rejected by the House of Commons, the majority, and an irresistible, overwhelming ma jority too, will be found on the opposite side of the ques tion. It is really amusing to analyse the professed mo tives which influenced some of those who condescended to explain their grounds of opposition to the Ballot. One stated that the evil influences put in operation at the last election originated from peculiar causes, not likely soon to occur again, and therefore he would not apply " a permanent remedy to a temporary disease." Simple soul !he was apprehensive lest the representative or elective principle should be maintained in a state of too ♦igorous health, and with considerate vigilance opposed " a permanent remedy to a temporary disease." And yet other opponents of the Ballot will assert that it will prove no remedy at all. In fact, if we were to pursue the arguments of those who opposed Mr. Grote's motion, we should find them all so contradictory that we need not look elsewhere for their refutation. As to Sir Robert Peel's speech, and the eulogy he bestowed on the conduct of the liberal leader of the House of Commons„xe shall honour them with a separate arti cle.—Morning Adver tiser. The division on the Ballot question last Thursday evening is made a subject of ostentatious rejoicing by the Radicals. Has the Ballot, then, been carried? Not at all, but rejected by a majority of 3.15 votes to 198. The clatter is not made is a right. Very well, replies Sir Robert Peel, with sting ing pithiness, " So is my seat for Tamworth a right enjoyed by me ; but will the Hon. Gentleman assert that it is not also a trust, for the exercise of which lam responsible ?" Again, says Sir Robert Peel, " If the franchise be not a trust, but a right, why may I not sell my right, as I may do any other pro perty ?" This rejoinder, as it seems to us, might puzzle sharper wits than Mr. Ward's. Once more, what guarantee does the ballot-box afford against foul play, by those who have that talisman of secrecy in their keeping? Who can tell whether the declaration of the m a j o rity is a fair one ? cr that the official return, upon which, be it remembered, tie can have no check, is bona fide that of the electors, and not that of the pub lic officer, or packed committee of officers, who have the cus tody of the wooden palladium of the Constitution, and of its contents, confided to them ? The subject, so far as concerns the Ballot itself, is worn out; but with reference to the treat ment of that question at the hands of those who were either counted in, or absent from the division of last Thursday, there are one or two remarks which it seems advisable to offer. Of the 315 Members who voted for the rejection of Mr. Grote's motion, not less than 254 were Conservatives. How many Whigs, therefore ? Why, arithmetically speaking, about 61. The Ministers, ostensibly, at least, announced themselves hostile to the Ballot. Lord J. Russellspoke against it, andspoke well. Four other Cabinet Ministers voted in the sense in which their leader spoke. Sir John Hobhouse, who had pledged him self in favour of the Ballot, found it necessary on this occa sion to show that the resistance to the measure was a Cabinet resistance, and, so far as depended on him at least, that it wits not an open question, while other circumstances, and the con duct of other official persons, would render such an imputation very far from extravagant or unreasonable. Mr. P. Thomson absented himself from the division; so did Mr. E. J. Stanley (albeit whipper-in and on duty) absent himself, while his brother voted in the teeth of her Majesty's Government. The three law officers of the Crown, viz , the two Attornies- General for England and Ireland. and the Lord Advocate of Scotland, were one and all absent from a division (on a vital question) supported formally by the Cabinet which they served —an occurrence, we presume to say, unparalleled in Parlia mentary indecency. So Sir Henry Parnell played the same shabby game, and did not dare to give a decided vote. Sir G. Grey, Under Secretary for a high department of state, representing, with eyes for the most part open, the sleeping guardian of the colonies, did not vote in support of Lord John Russell. Suspicious all this, and a great deal more than suspicious. But there are matters more striking still. Mr. Bernal, Whig-Radical Chairman of Committees, Mr. Robert Steuart, a devil of the Treasury, and Sir Hussey Vivian, of whom we have formerly taken some trifling notice —ay, Sir Hussey Vivian, Master-Gene ra l o f th e Ordnance, an office of which the occupant has in every preceding in stance we believe, but one (viz. that of Sir Jam e s K em pt), been likewise a member of the Cabinet, voted directly, and we will add audaciously, in the teeth of her Majesty's Ministers. How was this ? It was not for want of being gravely and emphatically warned as to the consequences of the step to which his Cornish coquetries had in a manner bound him. Now, a great deal depends on the sequel of the vote given by the Master-General of the Ordnance in Mr. Grote's favour. Will he be dismissed or not? We repeat the question—can the Cabinet, with any pretence to decency, retain this weak-minded, empty-headed personage in office ? Sir Hussey Vivian had to choose between his con nexion with the Cornish Radicals (the gentlemen of that county have expelled Sic W. Molessvorth for his attachment to the Ballot) and his obligation to the Queen's Ministers to vote as they voted upon all great constitutional questions. In this instance he has proved that he preferred his place on the hustings to that in Pall-mall. Then we once more interro gate Lord Melbourne—will he, after all that has passed, per mit Sir Hussey Vivian to remain an hour longer at the head of the Ordnance Department ? If he does, we tell the Noble i ! Viscount freely, that a shabbier or more despicable trick was never played before the eyes of the people cf England —that every man in the empire will proncunce without hesitation that his Lordship and his Colleagues, under the mask of Lord John Russell's speech in direct hostility to the Ballot, will thus, by the non-punishment of their own refractory placemen, have proved that the Cabinet opposition to Messrs. Grote and Hume and the Radical rabble, has been all a contemptible sham,—and their open condemnation of the Grote nostrum has been counteracted by the secret and un derhand encouragement given to their own official servants to support it; arid that, like most other paesages of their Minis terial history, this of their conduct on the Ballot has been a mean and truckling perfidy. Sir H. Vivian will be the test of their truth or falsehood. We state these imputations on the Melbourne Government as results, not absolute at the pre sent moment, but contingent on the maintenance of Sir Hussey Vivian, Mr. R. Steuart, &c., in offices at the complete dis posal of the Queen's Ministers. If they be not dismissed without ceremony, then the whole party policy of the Whigs is one systematic and most disgusting swindle. We subjoin a list of the Ministerial voters on the Ballot-Ist, those against the motion ; 2d, th ose f or th e mo ti on ; an d 3d, th ose absent from the division. What a picture of the unity and principle in an Executive Government AGAINST THE BALLOT- Adam, Sir Charles Howick, Lord Russell, Lord John Baring, F. Labouchere, H. Surrey, Earl of Byng, Hon. G. S. Paget, Lord Alfred Wood, C. Cowper, Hon. W. F. Palmerston, Viscount TULLER3. Ferguson, R. C. Rice, T. S. Seymour, Lerd Ho'Mouse, Sir J. C. Rolfe, Sir R. M. Smith, R. Vernon WHIG TAIL WHO VOTED AGAINST MINISTERS.-45. Anson, Sir G. Ellice, Captain A. Smith, John Abel Bernal, It. Ferguson, Sir Ronald Steuart, R. Conyngham, Lord A. Howard, F. J. Stuart, Lord James Denison, W. J. Kinnaird, Hon. A. 'Purnell, H. Duncan, Lord Melgund, Lord Vivian, J. H. Dundas, W. D. Paget, F. Vivian, C. C. Dundas, F. Ponsonby, Hon. J. Vivian, Sir R. R. Dundas, J. D. Russell, Lord Walker, R. Dundas, J. C. Russell, Lord Charles Wilde, T. Eliot. Hon J. E. Sinclair, Sir G. Worsley, Lord Ellice, E. ABSENT. Grey ; Sir G. Murray, J. A. O'Fer , all, More Parker, J. Parnell, Sir H. PAIRED OFF. Mr. Walker (Wexford) paired off with the Marquis of Granby. —Times. Anson, Hon. Colonel Campbell, Sir Jelin Dalmeny, Lord Fitzroy, Lord C. Gordon, R. Rl.ll, H. . -- Stanley, E. J. Thomson, C. P. Troubridge, Sir T. 'Woulfe, Serjeant " I n dubus homilies spcctare periclis convenit :" and Mr. Grote's hobby-horslcal exhibition on Thursday evening did certainly present two of our liberal legislators to our admiring gaze in characters considerably less contemptible than those which they generally support in the House of Commons. Lord John Russell was almost wise, Mr. Bulwer was almost witty, and both the Honourable and literary Members dis played an approximation to manliness which surprised alike their friends and foes. The " wiselike" tendencies of Lord John, piercing the murkiness of his pseudo-liberalism, and neutralizing the nastiness of his Radical associations, shed a lambent lustre on the Minister which was in a degree reflected on the man. Indeed, notwithstanding certain characteristic inilications of a Jim Crowish complexion towards the conclu sion of his speech, we should say that never before did Lord J. Russelltspeak so little like himself, and so much like a states man—so little like a mannikin, and so much like a man—as on this occasion. - But, if edified by the manly and const i tut i ona l t one of Lord John Russell, we were little less than astounded by the noun-substantive stand-aloneishness of Mr. Bulwer. That " clever pamphleteer," the most dandified of Legislators, the most classical of dandies, the most poetical of prose writers, and most prosaic of poets—that amp lifi cat i on o f li tt l eness an d a bortion of greatness—that pers ona l an d p o li t i ca l " m i sta k e " —that exquisite though exceptionable novelist, the Hon. and able and quasi -Radical Member for Lincoln, literally "plucked tip a spirit," and, publicly repu di at i ng p l ace- h unt i ng and po litical toady ism, formally proclaimed his preference for "those honours and emoluments which " might be open to him in an other career," " Je vais rentrcr dans ma coquille. Il n'y a plus nen a faire. Je ne veux plus etre nomme a rien." Mr. Bulwer seems to be a far-seeing politician as well as a clever pamphleteer." Whig-Radicalism is just now in the Fan. 16.—Her Majesty held a Privy Council yesterday, afternoon, at the New Palace. It was attended by the Lord President, the Lord Chancellor, the First Lord of the Treasury, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the First Lord of the Admiralty, the President of the Board of Controul, the Secretary at War, the Lord Steward, the Lord Chamberlain, and the Master of the Horse. . _ _ The Duke of Montrose, a member of his late Majesty's Privy Council, was re-sworn of the Queen's Most Honourable Privy Council. The Hon. William Bathurst was the Clerk of the Council in Waiting. Her Majesty gave audience to the Marquis of Lansdowne and Viscount Melbourne. The Court was attended by the Treasurer of the Household, the Compt:oller of the Household; Lord Lilford, Lard in Waiting ; the Hon, Colonel Cavendish, Clerk Marshal • Co lonel Armstrong, Groom in Waiting ; and Colonel Bulky, Equerry in Waiting. The Earl and Countess of Durham and a small party dined with her Majesty last evening at the New Palace. The band of the Grenadier Guards was in attendance during the even ing. The band of the Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards attended on Wednesday evening at the Palace. At the Queen's Levee, on Wednesday, Majcr Henry Dun das Campbell presented the following addresses and petitions to her Majesty :—Fi om the native Kings and Chiefs of Africa, from the King of Timbo, from the inhabitants of all the libe rated Afi ican villages in the Colony of Sierra Leone, from the i4l croon inhabitants of ditto, from the Nova Scotia ditto, from the liberated Africans in Freetown ditto, from the resident Kroomen ditto, from the traders in the Rol:elle River ditto, from the West African Methodists ditto. In the list of addresses of condolence and congratulation at her Majesty's Levee, presented by Mr. Colquhlun, that of the Assembly of Nevis was accid:ntally omitted. Sir Edwin Pearson resumed his duties as Li utenant of the Yeomen of the Guard, having returned from a long tour in Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and the East. The Rev. Dr. Dakin3, Principal Chaplain to her Majesty's Forces, teas presented by his Lordship the General Command.. ing-in- Chief. Dr. Chambers was presented to her Majesty, by. Sir Henry Halford, Bart., on his appointment as Physician in Ordinary to 11:!.r Majesty. The lion. William Cowper officiated at the Levee as the Groom in Waiting. Fen. 17.—1 - ler Majesty gave audience yesterday to Viscount Melbourne. Her Majesty gave a sitting yesterday to Mr. W. C. Ross, miniature painter to ber Majesty. The Royal dinner party at the New Palace last evening in cluded Viscount. Ebrington, Viscount Palmerston, Viscount Melbourne, Lord Dalmeny, Lord Byron, Lady and the Hon. Miss Dillon, and L o rd A Paget. Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cam bridge and Prince George o f C am b r idg e honour e d th e D u k e and Duchess of Sutherland with their c3mpany at dinner lust evening at Stafford House. A Cabinet Council was held yesterday afternoon at the re sidence of Lord Glenelg, in Great George-street. It was attended by all the Ministers, except Lord Dunca.inon, who is indisposed. The Council sat two hours. The French Ambassador transaaed business y esterdsy at the Foreign-office. Tho Judicial Connnittce of her Majesty's most Hon. Privy Council sat yesterday:. The Lords present wcro Lord Brougham, Mr. Baron Parke, Mr. Justice Bosanquet, and the Chief Judge in Bankruptcy. The Attorney-General and 'Sir William Follett were heard for the respective patties in an appeal from Lower Canada, " -Hutchinson v. Gillespie." An appeal from the Court of Chancery in Jamaicl, " Hec tor Mitchel v. Ede," was afterwards called on ; Messrs. Pem berton and Burge (Queen's Counsel) appeared for the ap pellant, and Mr. Knight (Queen's Counsel) and Mr. Ken nalls for the respondent. The case was nc.t corcluded at four o'clock, when the Court rose. FASHIONABLE INTELLIGENCE. ARRIVALS. The Earl of Falmouth, in St. James's-square, from his scat, Tregothnan, Truro, Cornwall ; Lord Byron, in Eaton place, from his seat in Derbyshire; the Dowager Countess of Listowel, at Kingston House, Knightsbridge, from St. Leonard's ; the lion. T. H. Liddell, at Percy's-cross, Ful ham, from a visit to the Marquis and Marchioness of London derry, at Wynard Castle, Stockton-on-Tees; Sir Hugh and Lady Owen; Sir Edmund and Lady Ilayes, in St. James's place, from their scat, Drumboe Castle, Stranorlar, Ireland ; the Earl of Huntingdon, in Baker -street, from Dover ; Lord Rayleigh, from his seat, Terling-place, Witham ; Sir Robert Gordon, at Argyll House, Argyll-street, from his seat in A')erdeenshire ; Viscount and Viscountess Eastnor, and the Hon. Miss Cocks, in Hill-street, from their villa at Leaming ton; Sir Charles Morgan, Bart., in Pall-mall, from his seat, Tredegar House, near Newport, Monmouthshire; the Mar quis of Camden, in Grosvenor-street, from his seat, the Wil derness, near Sevenoaks, Kent ; Lord Augustus Fitzclarence, at the Burlington Hotel, Cork-street, from his seat, Etal House, Berwick-on-Tweed ; General Morrison, in Devon shire -street, from Worcestershire ; Mr. Hervy Aston, First Life Guards, at Mivart's Hotel, Brook-street, from Aston Hall, near Warrington ; Mr. and Mrs. Turner, at ditto, from a tour ; Mr. and Mrs. Bosanquet, at ditto, from their seat, Broxbournbury, Herts ; the Hon. Mrs. Craven and family, at ditto, from Paris ; Captain and Mrs. Meynuell, at ditto ,from a tour; Sir Henry Keating, from Bath ; the Earl of Ux bridge, at Uxbridge. House, from his scat, Maple Hayes, Staf fordshire; Viscount and Viscountess Sydney, in Cleveland square, from a visit to the Marquis and Marchioness of Anglesey, at Beaudesert, Staffcrdshire ; Lord Segrave, in Spring gardens, from his seat, Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire; General Wulff, from Bath ; the Earl of Ilchester, in Old Burlington street, from his seat, Melbury House, bherbourne, Dorset; Lord Tenterden, in Portman-square, from his seat at Hendon; Henry Cary, Esq., at the Burlington Hotel, from Tor Abbey, Devonshire; :John Taylor, Esq., at Mason's Hotel (late Symmon's), St. James's- Street, from Worcester ; Mr. and Lady Caroline Maxse, at ditto, from Sussex ; Mr. Somers, M. P., in Regent -street, from Dublin; Sir Edward Knatch bull, Bart, M. P., at Steven's Hotel, Clifford -street, from Mer sham, Kent ; the Hon. John Strengways, at Lord Ilchester's, Burlington-street ; Lord Duncan, at the Albany Chambers; Lord and Lady Francis Gordon, in Wilton-creseent, from a visiting tour ; Lady Dover and family, at Dover House, Whitehall, from Rochampton ; the Hon. Robert Smith, in Upper Belgrave-street, from the Abbey, Wycombe, Bucks; Sir William Merydyth Somerville, Bart., at the Burlington Hotel, from Bifrons; the lion. Colonel Westenra, in Green street, from Windsor; Mr. Stanley, M. P., in Bruton-street. THE SUN, LON DON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1838. to adhere to such custom, and happening, when some noble man called in to pay them a visit, to be seated cross-legged on a 'sofa, rose with infinite dignity, but, instead of stand ing on the floor, stood upright on the sofa, with their royal heads nearly touching th© ceiling. This movement, with the slowness and majesty with which it was accom panied, must have been irresistible ! PI?OVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY-A BOOK OF THOUGHTS AND ARGUMENTS. BY .114RTIN F. TUPPEIt, XSQ•, M.A. .Rickerby, London, 1838. We have more doubts of the popularity of this work than we have of its intrinsic value, or the high intellectual abilities of its better than clever author. That Mr. Tup per is a man of much reading, great reflection, and high moral principles, will readily be admitted by all who open his book ; but we question whether the quaint form in which he has embodied his proverbial philosophy will not greatly retard its just appreciation by that numerous class of readers, who must be excited or amused in order to be instructed. For our own part we are admirers of a quaint style in all works of this sort, nor have we any greater fault to find with the volume before us than that it deals with some subjects which have nothing whatever to do with proverbial wisdom —as the mystery of the Trinity for example. Though many of Mr. Tupper's finest passages will have little nor velty, except in the mode of treatment, to such as are well acquainted with the works of Erasmus, Bacon, Saavedra, and Franklin, he has contributed enough to obtain for him the credit of an original thinker, as well as a 'writer of great promise. The book is divided into sections, and written in hexameters, which, though quaint in appearance, serve to fix the thoughts which it embodies more firmly in the mind. The following beautifully impressive lesson of true wisdom is taken at random from the section, headed Anticipation : " Thou halt seen many sorrows, tracel.stained pilgrim of the world ; But that which hath pained thee most, bath been the looking for evil And though calamities have crossed thee, and misery been heaped on thy head, Yet ills that never happened, have chiefly made thee wretched. Verily, evils may be courted, may be wooed and woo by distrust; For the wise Physician of our weal loveth not an unbelieving spirit, And to those giveth he good, who rely on his hand for good: And those leaveth he to evil, who fear, but trust him not. Cease to anticipate misfortune; there are still many chances of escape : But if it come, be courageous; face it, and conquer thy calamity. There is not an enemy so stout, as to storm and take the fortress of the mind, Unless its infirmity turn traitor, and Fear unbar the gates." To the wanting in charity for the political and religious opinions of others the following observations forcibly ad dress themselves : SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS for a victory, or for a drawn battle, or for a small majority over the fanatics who seek to bolster up this intended screen for fraud and falsehood ; but the trumpet is blown because the de feat may have appeared to them less signal and total than on some former occasions. The vaunt implies that regard has been had to the mere numbers constituting the minority, not by any means to its composition, or to the novel circumstances wldch produced it. For the proposal generally to obtrude the Ballot upon this nation, we have spoken of it repeatedly—as we felt, and actually feel towards it—in terms of unmitigated re probstion. Englishmen have for centuries exercised their political rights in the face of the day, and before friends and foes hare discharged their political duties. This habit has interwoven itself with the very nature of the people of England, who, in their collective character, detest falsehood, and despise concealment as its rowdy and cowardly confederate. The Ballot is no further honest than in avowing that which it would be ridiculous to deny—viz., that the mo tive of its advocates is to place a screen before proceedings the actors in which would be ashamed or afraid to exhibit them openly to the public. Protection to fraud and treachery is the prime office of the Ballot. The main advantage deriv able to bad men from it was described will' unconscious naivete by O'Connell, when he boasted that it would enable Tim, or Jack, or Paddy, to " promise one candidate and vote for another." " And so, boys (adds Daniel) here's hurrah for the Ballot !" Now, Mr. Grote may lecture the House of Commons until Doomsday, and burnish over his nostrum as be likes, but never will he succeed in washing that Gipsy walnut-stain from the skin of it, or present it to the world under an aspect so true as that which was affixed to it by the reckless and exulting profligacy of O'Connell. It is said that the Ballot has become indispensable as a shield for those depositaries of the right of voting who are now intimidated out of the full enjoyment of their franchise. Is it not a fair question whether the franchise ought to be intrusted to those who arc debarred by their posi tion in society from its free and independent exercise? Is it endurable that (on the hypothesis of the Ballot securing se crecy) a Member of Parliament should not know by what class of the electors for a city or borough he has, in fact, been chosen, and who it is that he really represents—whether the most enlightened and respectable portion of the consti tuency, or the most ignorant and worthless? Is it desirable that electors of a given county, city, or borough shall not have any safe reliance on each other's declared sentiments, or have the means of guessing who they aro that act upon com mon principles with themselves, and by whom they are opposed and thwarted ? Is it or is it not desirable—nay, indispensable to the full enjoyment of his franchise, and to the defence of his own honour, truth, and consistency, by each individual voter—that he should have it in his power to turn to the poll-book on each successive election, and hold up to the country the evidence there recorded and unquestionable, that he had given his suffrage for this or that particular can didate, and thereby upheld, or endeavoured to uphold, certain public principles of which such candidate professed to be the organ ? Is it right that they in whose hands a high political trust is deposited, should be exempt from all responsibility for the discharge of it ? But the franchise, quoth that voluble statesman, Mr. Ward—the franchise is not a trust, because it proximate possibility of becoming a losing game. The Me 1- bourne Whigs hold office by the half prudent, half contemp tuous toleration of the Tories. The sun of the Thimble-rig gers is going down ; and then for the tug of war" between the Tories and the Republicans.-3lorning Post. ANALYSIS OF THE DIVISION ON THE BALLOT. To the EDITOR of the MORNING CHRONICLE. Stu,—Having taken the trouble to analyse the late divi sion on the Ballot, I beg to call your attention to the light which that analysis throws on the position of the Government towards its supporters. Among the 200 supporters of the Ballot there was ono Tory, Sir George Sinclair. The remaining 199 were Liberals, who have invariably supported the present Government against the Tories. Among the 317 opponents there were not more than . 63 Whigs, including in that number about half a dozen gentle men who have been by no means invariable supporters of the present Ministry. Of these 63, 18 were Mem bers of the Government ; leaving 45 or 39 Whigs to back th 3 Ministry against 199 of their usual friends. Thus, in opposing the Ballot, they were in ac cordance with, exclusive of their own number, abcut 1- - 6:h of the Liberal party, at the head of which they stand ; and counting their own number, about 1-sth. Is this a state of things that ought to be ? that can last long ? A Govern ment opposing 5-6ths or 4_ sths of its own adherents, on the question which those adherents regard 2 S one. of paramount importance. Of Liberals there were 73 absent ; of whom 15 aro in office. I believe that I may fairly assume that 60 or 63, if not 70, of these arc favourable to the Ballot, and stayed away from acci dent (which was peculiarly adverse to us), or from indisposition to vote against the Government. Thus I believe that the num ber of the friends of the Ballot (allowing even that none who voted against it were really favourable to it) stands at 260 or 270 to about 60 Whigs, who oppose it. This is the real divi sion of opinion among the Liberal party in the House of Com mons. It is just on any principle of party co-operation that such a majority should yield to so small a minority ? I wish also to call your attention to the fact, which is ob vious from this analysis, that the Ministry could, by declar ing for the Ballot, ensure its success in the House of Com mons. If the stanch Whigs in the House, almost all of whom would go with the Ministry on this point, had voted for instead of against the Ballot, we should have been within three or four of an equality; or had the absent been allowed to attend, we should have had a large. majority, even snros ing- some of the Whigs who voted against the Ballot to have refused to vote for it. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, House of Commons, Friday, Feb. 16. COURT CIRCULAR. DEPARTURES. Walter Jones, Esq and Mrs. Jones, from the Green-park Hotel, Piccadilly, for Carmarthen ; Baron and Baroness Dimsdale, from Mivart's Hotel, Brook-street, for their seat, Cumpfield-place, Herts ; Lord Macdonald, from ditto, for Melton; Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Gaton, from ditto, on a tour ; the Earl of Brecknock, from Grosvenor -street, for the Wil derness, near Sevenoaks, Kent ; Lord Viscount Gort, from Nerot's Hotel, Clifford and Cork-streets, for Hastings; Sir James Whitshed and Miss \Vhitshed, from ditto, for Holbrook; the Rey. Mr. St. John, from ditto, for Andover. Prince and Princess Capua and suite arc expected at Mivart's Hotel to-day from Dover, having landed on Wed nesday from Calais. Sir F. B. Head is of Kentish extraction ; his an cestors resided at Boley-hill, Rochester, and at the Hermitage, Higham, and monuments of the burial of several of them exist in Rochester Cathedral.—Kentish Observer. ELGIN.—Mr. Sheriff Cameron has fixed Tuesday, the 13th current, as the day of election ; and, in the event of a poll being demanded, appointed it to take place on the Thursday folio ivin,g.